I've Won... But At What Cost?

About

I've Won… But At What Cost? refers to an image macro showing a semi-transparent Wario in front of a cloudy sky with the text "I've won… but at what cost?" overlaid. The picture has been used as a reaction image with scenarios where a person achieves a minor a victory but suffers a more pressing loss in the process.

Origin

The image was first posted to Tumblr in 2014. While the original post has been deleted, one of the earliest known reblogs of the post exists on user psyducked^[1] on May 8th, 2014. The post gained over 48,000 notes (shown below).

Spread

The image began seeing use as a reaction image on Tumblr in the following months. For example, a post by hyadin^[2] which paired the image with the caption "when u beat a game with a sad ending" gained over 290,000 notes (shown below, left). From there, the image spread to Reddit, where it has been used in multiple variations. For example, an edit appeared on February 21st, 2016 in /r/meirl,^[3] referencing Netflix and Chill.

The image continued seeing use on Reddit through 2020. Recent examples of the meme include a post by user "______HI_______" in /r/memes^[4] on January 4th, 2020 that gained over 19,000 points (shown below, left). A January 23rd post in /r/ComedyCemetary^[5] by homiemanti that featured Waluigi gained over 1,100 points (Shown below, right).

Various Examples

Template

Search Interest

External References